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hi I'm Carrie beverage from tips for
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travelers I'm here in Jerusalem in the
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old city of Jerusalem its controversial
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and it's guaranteed to raise tensions
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emotions positive and negative no matter
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which side of the political spectrum
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you're on what your religion is and in
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this video I'm going to give you seven
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things that you absolutely need to know
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about Jerusalem to make up your mind the
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first thing you need to know is it's
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incredibly old it's over five thousand
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years old with the real history kicking
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off 3,500 years ago when King David
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basically brought together twelve tribes
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to form the Kingdom of Israel and made
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Jerusalem its capital so it's one of the
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ten oldest permanently occupied cities
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in the world the second thing that's
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fascinating about Jerusalem is that it
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is very unique in that it's the center
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of three key religions and hosts through
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the most holiest sites for three
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different religions so if you start with
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Judaism it's the origins of the religion
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and the very holy place is the mount the
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Mount was where the holiest temples were
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built to worship God they were destroyed
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a couple of times and the only remaining
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structure from these holy of holy
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temples is the western wall which is
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sometimes called the Wailing Wall it was
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called the Wailing Wall because it
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really represents the Jewish people sort
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of wailing at the destruction of this
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incredibly holy temple so it's also it's
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an incredibly significant place for
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Christianity because it marks the place
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where Jesus was crucified and buried and
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the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is
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built on those two sites inside is a
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couple of key things including the stone
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of anointing where Jesus body was
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allegedly anointed before burial and
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there's the tomb of Jesus which is over
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the cave that he was originally buried
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in the third religion that is
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significant for Jerusalem is Islam so
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for Muslims it is the third holiest site
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so the Dome of the rock is built on what
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is the mound and this is where Muhammad
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the third thing you need to know about
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Jerusalem is that it is basically threw
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out its entire history has been a source
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of conflict and dispute the city has
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been destroyed at least twice it's been
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besieged 23 times and attacked 52 times
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and captured and recaptured at least 44
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times in more recent times of
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significant events were in 1948 there
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was the arab-israeli war where Jerusalem
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was actually divided and East Jerusalem
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which contains the old city was occupied
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and the Jordanians basically held each
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tourism and the old city right up until
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the six-day war in 1967 when the
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Israelis recaptured and took control of
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East Jerusalem and the old city so this
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is a source still of conflict the fourth
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thing you need to know about Jerusalem
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is that multiple states claim it as
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so both the Israelis which have it as
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their capital currently and the
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Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as
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their capital now the international
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community doesn't fully accept the
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Israeli control of East Jerusalem so
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you'll find there are no international
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embassies or consulates or Aslam however
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the main operations of the Israeli
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government are in Jerusalem so the
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Knesset which is the Parliament the
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official residence of the Prime Minister
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and the president are all within
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Jerusalem the fifth thing you need to
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know about Jerusalem and the old city
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it's divided into four quarters the
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largest is actually the Muslim sector
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which has between 20 and 30 thousand
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people living there so it's quite
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densely inhabited and there are lots of
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winding streets and beautiful stalls and
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markets in the suit areas the next area
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is the Jewish quarter which only has
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around about 3,000 people living there
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and the Jewish quarter is the most
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recent looking of all of the quarters
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because during that occupation between
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1948 1967 it was actually destroyed and
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so has been rebuilt after the Israelis
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took control of the old city the
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questioned quarter also has around about
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3,000 people living there the smallest
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quarter board is the Armenian Quarter
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six hundred people living there there's
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very limited access in fact the only
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thing that you can do as a non Armenian
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not living there is go to see the church
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offs and James necessarily open to
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visitors between 3 o'clock and 3:30 the
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fix thing about Old Town Jerusalem and
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East Jerusalem is everywhere you turn
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you see iconic and important historic
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site and that was the thing that struck
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me so much as you walk around it's just
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incredible because you keep summoning
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cross things whether it is the place
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where Jesus was crucified where he was
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the Western war or the wailing war the
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incredible rampart the Tower of David
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there is the Mount of Olives which is
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significant in so many religions because
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this is where we save the world
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depending on your religion either return
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or arrive for the first time everywhere
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you look they are just these significant
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sites because the old town is so small
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it's only less than a square mile these
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sites are basically on top of each other
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and everywhere you go now the last thing
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to talk about which is a thing that I
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got asked more than anything is safety
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there is a perception that it's quite a
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risky place or dangerous place to go
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there are a lot of visible armed
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presence around so whether that's the
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army whether it's the police or various
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God throughout all the quarters and all
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around often when you go into places
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whether it's into sort of shopping malls
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or some of attractions you will be if
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you've got bags you put them through
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screening etc so there's a very kind of
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high level of security I didn't feel
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unsafe there certainly I've found they
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all City which is very busy with
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tourists very strong armed presence to
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feel kind of safe getting of course
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disconcerted thing is is seeing so many
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armed people around which has reminds
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you of the kind of underlying tensions
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well I hope you found that interesting
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provocative and helped you better
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understand a little bit about Jerusalem
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and the some things you need to know if
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you enjoyed this video please like the
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video and I'd love it if you subscribed
